


The Nature of the Beast

by JohnAmendAll



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 13:25:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1094363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JohnAmendAll/pseuds/JohnAmendAll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Mags had been part of the Doctor's team in 'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship'? And what kind of Doctor would have chosen her?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Nature of the Beast

**Author's Note:**

> This arose from rewatching The Greatest Show In The Galaxy. For the best part of an episode, Mags is effectively the Doctor's companion, and I wondered how she'd work in the rôle full-time. That then got combined with a dim recollection of reading a fic where the _Full Fathom Five_ Doctor had a vampire as his companion, and I ended up with... the Doctor here.

There were cold metal deckplates against Mags's face, and the familiar feeling of enervation throughout her body that told her all too clearly what she'd let herself do. Not daring to open her eyes, she forced herself to remember. The recollection came to her in a series of stark images, carried on waves of heat and blood and instinct. Solomon laughing at them, his gun to Nefertiti's head; the Doctor negotiating, almost pleading for a settlement; the flash of moonlight in the corner of Mags's eye; her hands, scrabbling at the cover of a porthole; her claws and teeth tearing into human flesh... 

The Doctor's hand was laid on her shoulder. "Mags?" his voice asked, full of all his usual concern for her. 

"I did it again," Mags said dully. "Didn't I?" 

"Is she hurt?" Nefertiti's voice asked, further away. "Mags, did he injure you?" 

She couldn't hide from the consequences of her actions, Mags decided. Better to see the worst for herself. She raised herself on her elbows, and opened her eyes. 

Solomon's body was lying in the airlock, his head at such an angle that his neck must be broken. His sleeves were torn, his arms scratched; as she saw the marks, her memories of inflicting them surged up once more. 

"No," she said, her voice hollow. "No, he didn't hurt me. I killed him and he didn't even mark me." 

She felt arms lifting her to her feet; the Doctor was supporting her on one side, Nefertiti on the other. 

"You have done me a great service," Nefertiti was saying. "For this, your name shall always be held in honour." 

Mags shook her head. "Please, don't talk about it. When I'm—" she swallowed. "When I'm like that, the wolf takes over. I might have killed you instead of him." 

"But you did not." Nefertiti squeezed her arm encouragingly. 

The fatigue that always followed Mags's transformation was beginning to pass. She pulled free from Nefertiti and the Doctor. 

"But I _might_ ," she repeated. "Don't talk about it. OK?" 

⁂

The Doctor, Mags half-suspected, had been avoiding her. Or at any rate, taken steps to ensure that if he was with her, there was always someone else present. Admittedly it made sense that the Doctor would need his other companions' help to set a new course for the Silurian vessel, jury-rig the late unlamented Solomon's spaceship as a decoy for the missiles heading in their direction, and return the dinosaurs to their proper holding areas. But whether it was by design or mischance, Mags wasn't alone with the Doctor until Riddell and Nefertiti had been returned to Earth and the TARDIS was once more in flight. 

"Doctor," she said. "I want to talk." 

His expression was one of honest helpfulness. "Of course." 

"Back on the spaceship. I killed Solomon." 

"To save Nefertiti's life," the Doctor said. "But yes, stated purely in factual terms, you did kill Solomon. I don't suppose it's any comfort, but I was very tempted to do it myself." 

"But you didn't. I did." She began to walk around the console, her hands fidgeting nervously. 

"And you're worried that you don't have complete control over your instincts? That the wolf took over?" 

It was tempting. Whether he was doing it deliberately or not, Mags didn't know, but he was offering her a way out. A way out of this conversation, of all the questions that had been forming in her mind since she'd looked down at Solomon's mangled body. 

"No," she said. 

He raised his eyebrows. "No?" 

"You remember when you met me the first time. Captain Cook treated me like — like an attack dog. Point me at someone he wanted dead and let go of the leash. And you taught me I could control myself — choose if I killed or not." 

"I remember." He gave her a smile that was probably intended to be encouraging. 

Mags took the plunge. "Did you give me a choice today?" 

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked. If he was pretending to be surprised, Mags had to admit it was a very good pretence. 

"It was just the four of us." Mags's aimless wandering had become rapid pacing to and fro. "Riddell wasn't there, was he? And you'd already done for those stupid robots. Just Solomon and Nefi and you... and me. Was that why you brought me at all?" 

The Doctor's expression was one of concern. "Mags, you're getting yourself worked up." 

"Yes! I am!" She wheeled on him, her hands raised. "I was there because you wanted me there. I know you didn't set me on him like the Captain would have done. But you set the whole thing up so you didn't have to!" 

"Mags, stop it." The Doctor put his hands on her shoulders. "You know I tried to resolve the situation peacefully." 

"All you did was _talk_ at him. Did you really think that would do any good?" 

"It did with you." 

Mags opened her mouth, but no words came. She felt as if she'd been chasing her prey across a frozen river, and suddenly the ice had given way beneath her. 

"The difference is, you listened," the Doctor went on. "So out of you and Solomon, which one do you think was the real monster?" 

Mags gently removed his hands from her shoulders and stepped back. "You think he was worse than..." 

"I _know_ you're a better person than he ever was." 

Somehow, Mags realised, she'd lost the game without even knowing she'd been playing it. "I'm tired," she said. "I'm going to bed." 

"I'm sure it'll do you the world of good. Sweet dreams." 

Mags walked in silence to the inner door, and then turned. 

"Doctor," she said. 

"Yes?" 

Mags pointed at him. "So sharp you could cut yourself," she said. "You really need to watch that."


End file.
